Betty, Veronica and Archie Switcheroo

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Meet Archie. He is your protagonist and by default the The Everyman. He is torn between two people: Betty and Veronica. Betty is the Nice Girl, and Veronica is The Vamp who may be prickly and temperamental but is fun. It seems like a straightforward Love Triangle.

Or is it?

The Betty, Veronica, and Archie Switcheroo is when these roles are switched around. Sometimes Betty is revealed to have a hidden wild side or tragic backstory. Maybe Veronica is revealed to have Hidden Depths that put her in the Nice Girl territory. Perhaps Archie is actually a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing or isn't interested in either girl. In any case, the roles switch because people are not just flat characters.

Not to be confused with a Freaky Friday Flip.

Examples of Betty, Veronica and Archie Switcheroo include:

Anime and Manga

  • Revolutionary Girl Utena has the titular character experience variations of this trope:
    • Utena starts falling for Akio, Anthy's brother. He seems much nicer than Touga, the Student Council president that tried manipulating Utena into losing a Rose Duel and becoming his girlfriend. Then Touga realizes that Akio has something sinister planned for Utena and tries warning her about the plot for the End of the World. Despite saying that he can't help Utena if she won't see the truth, Touga selflessly follows her into the castle to rescue Dios from Akio, and unlike the other council members his flaws don't trap him; Touga is horrified when Utena sacrifices her existence to free Anthy from her curse. The manga ends with him relieved that Anthy is going to find Utena while Walking the Earth.
    • Anthy at first appears to be the Archie in the relationship, as the Council members fight over ownership of her in mandated duels, with Utena serving as the Betty. It comes out that Anthy is more important than she looks; far from being a mere prize as the Rose Bride for the students to win, she's Dios's sister. In fact, what happened was that Anthy shielded Dios when he worked himself to death, accepting swords of hate that infuse her with pain after a mob wanted to confront him. Dios later becomes Akio, and used Anthy in his campaign to acquire power so as to become Dios again, by making people fight over her. When the truth comes out, Utena declares that she will earn her way to become a real prince for Anthy, by freeing her from her curse and bondage to Akio. This involves sacrificing her existence, and giving her courageous spirit to Anthy. Anthy gains her freedom and is no longer the Archie.
  • Sailor Moon showed this happen in different ways:
    • The second episode of the classic series has Umino crushing on Usagi, and the Monster of the Week turns him into a Jerkass brainwashed Veronica, just as she sees her crush Motoki at the arcade, a Nice Guy that feeds Luna. Umino flips their teacher's skirt, joins the boys in throwing rocks at windows, and harasses Usagi to the point that she cries. Except... it was a spell. When Usagi becomes Sailor Moon and frees the boys, Umino is mortified on hearing what he did.
    • Rei starts dating Mamoru in season one of the classic series. While she's portrayed as the Veronica to Usagi's Betty, in truth both of the girls bicker a lot, with Usagi sometimes having unprovoked jabs at Rei, and at this point Usagi has eyes only for arcade manager and Nice Guy Motoki. And in the end, Rei steps aside because she realizes that while she liked Mamoru, she didn't love him the way that Usagi does to the point of having a breakdown after learning the Dark Kingdom captured and brainwashed him. Plus, by then, a drifter named Yuiichiro catches her eye, to the point they become a couple in later seasons.
    • In the anime, Makoto gets jealous when finding out that Motoki has a girlfriend, a Nice Girl named Reika who would be the Betty. Makoto would normally be the Veronica and prepares to sabotage the relationship, only to find out that she can't do it. When Reika is hesitant about accepting a job abroad that would separate her from her boyfriend, Makoto says that long-distance relationships work all the time, and encourages her that she and Motoki can still be happy, returning to their relationship when Reika's job is over. And indeed, when Motoki sees off Reika at the airport, both Makoto and Usagi are touched at how much the two care about each other.
    • In the manga meanwhile, the Infinity Arc had Haruka hitting on Usagi while Michiru hit on Mamoru. Mamoru has become the Betty while the mysterious Haruka who rides a motorcycle and kisses Usagi while they're both in serious relationships seems to be the Veronica. Turns out that Haruka and Michiru, Sailor Uranus and Neptune respectively, were investigating Sailor Moon to help stop the Silence. They apologize to her and Mamoru for the deception. Mamoru and Usagi also forgive each other when they mutually confess, acknowledging that they may be in love, but sometimes other attractive people will come their way.
  • ×××HOLiC has Watanuki fearing that this dynamic is happening with Himawari, his crush, and his Sitcom Arch Nemesis Shizuka Domeki, a Tall, Dark and Snarky classmate. Turns out that Himawari is a literal Doom Magnet that brings bad luck to people who encounter her; Domeki is immune because he naturally repels bad spirits. Yuko asked Domeki to befriend Himawari and Watanuki so that Watanuki would not suffer from the bad luck. Indeed, as time passes, Domeki seems more interested in Watanuki as a significant other rather than Himawari.
  • Yona of the Dawn has the titular character torn between her bodyguard Hak and her cousin Su-Won. Hak is Tall, Dark and Snarky who often treats Yona like a child, while Su-Won is always sweet to Yona and giving her lovely trinkets. Then Yona witnesses Su-Won killing her father the king in cold blood, on her birthday no less, and then trying to murder her as well; Hak selflessly risks his life to evacuate Yona and cannot understand why Su-Won would do such a thing. We also find out that the trope is more complicated; as a kid, Hak make Su-Won promise to marry Yona so they could all stay together, as friends.

Ballads

  • "'Twa Sisters" in the Child Ballads theoretically portrays two sisters fighting over the same guy. The older one pushes her younger one into the river and lets her drown. Patricia C. Wrede had a different take in her short story "Cruel Sisters"; the main character Margaret, a middle child between eldest girl Anne and the youngest Eleanor. She sees that Eleanor lies regularly to get Anne in trouble, and Margaret retaliates out of spite. Neither of them was a complete Betty, and the guy who pursued them goes after Margaret at the next opportunity.

Comic Books

  • In the Archie Comics, Betty and Veronica are more likely to be friends than rivals. They enjoy doing shopping dates together and will call out Reggie and Archie for spying on other girls, like when they couldn't figure out why a rich girl was dating Jughead.
    • In a "Little Archie" one-shot, Betty tried to convince Moose that Veronica liked him so that she could have Archie. Moose remembered that Archie liked Veronica and went to beat him up; feeling guilty, Betty saved Archie and apologized.

Film

  • The Scooby-Doo movies occasionally show this dynamic played with in a few films:
    • In Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Fred is implied to be in a relationship with Daphne long after the gang broke up, serving as her cameraman. They meet Lena in New Orleans, who invites them to visit a real haunted home on Moonscar Island. Daphne becomes jealous when Lena starts flirting with Fred, and she seems to be the Veronica to Lena's Nice Girl and Supreme Chef Betty. Lena is a demi-mortal werecat who lured the Mystery Inc. gang to the island to feed on their souls, and her flirting with Fred was an act. She admits he's cute after capturing him, but not cute enough to spare.
    • Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost has Daphne tease Fred that he has a crush on Hex Girl lead singer Thorne after he says they should investigate her, showing Character Development and no jealousy. Fred blushes and denies it; he also seriously suspects that Thorne is a witch. Turns out Thorne is not interested in any guy canonically, and she ends up helping stop the real villain, the resurrected ghost of Sarah Ravenscroft.

Literature

  • The novel Fangirl (novel) has two instances of this:
    • Cather, the protagonist, is the Archie as she's attracted to both her roommate's boyfriend Levi, who is an older range management major that smokes and keeps inviting her to parties, as well as Nick, her quiet writing partner in class. Levi at first seems to be the Veronica while Nick is the safe Betty. Not that Cather is interested in either until her long-distance boyfriend Abel breaks up with her. Then it turns out Levi is truly the Nice Guy of the duo, who goes out of his way to drive Cather to see her dad at the hospital after they haven't talked for months, while Nick uses Cather's writing to pass their Creative Writing final. Cather even lampshades that she didn't realize what a phony Nick was until he revealed his true colors.
    • Meanwhile, Cather believes that she is the Betty to Levi, who is ostensibly dating Reagan, her college roommate that smokes, swears and kicks their door open a lot. She also says to herself that she is not interested in Levi because he is clearly taken. Reagan reveals that she and Levi broke up months ago but stayed friends, and does ship them reluctantly.

Live-Action TV

  • Angel
    • Fred was the Archie between Wesley and Gunn. Wesley would be The Betty as the former Watcher while Gunn is the Veronica monster hunter. Except, Wesley has had his share of Veronica moments, including when he double-crossed the Council to protect Angel from them. Gunn also became more of The Betty in Season 5 when he receives an intelligence boost. Then Fred got taken over by an ancient goddess, ending the triangle with her death.
    • Angel is torn between his ex, Darla, when she's brought back as a human, and Cordelia, acquaintance turned secretary of Angel Investigations. Normally Cordelia would be the Veronica, but due to Character Development and being Blessed with Suck through mind-melting visions, she's become much mellower as a result. Darla is genuinely nice when she's human, but reverts to her soulless vampiric self when Angelus's protege Drusilla turns her through a gambit from Wolfram & Hart. The women keep switching roles, complete with a moment when Cordelia attempts to comfort Darla in season three, only to get bitten.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
    • Buffy was the Archie between Angel, her love interest in seasons one and two, and Xander briefly. Thing is that while Xander would normally be the Betty, his jealousy for Angel led to him being a Jerkass on several occasions and even considering his childhood friend Willow as a consolation prize. Willow called him out for this in the season one finale, that she is no one's second choice.
    • Willow and Xander both gain significant others in season two: musician Oz and Alpha Bitch Cordelia respectively. They also realize they are attracted to each other in season three, and both would be considered the Bettys for each other. Thing is that Oz and Cordelia truly loved their partners, and are devastated when seeing the two kiss. The rest of the season turns Cordelia into The Woobie as she undergoes a Humiliation Conga, and it takes Oz a long time to forgive Willow.

Newspaper Comics

  • In For Better or For Worse this ended up happening with Anthony, the Archie, and his childhood flame Elizabeth as well as his current wife Therese. After having a child with Therese, Anthony starts emotionally cheating on her with Elizabeth after saving the latter from a coworker attempting to assault her. He claims that Therese is not a good mother and wouldn't quit her job. While Elizabeth was building a career, she was perfectly fine with settling down at a mundane job while raising a family with Anthony at the end of the strip. Thing is, as readers pointed out, Anthony was the one who pressured Therese to have a baby when she wasn't interested, and wanted her to quit a job that she loved. It makes him a less sympathetic Archie, even if their parents were the one who pushed for the marriage as a business arrangement. Not helping is that Elizabeth is oblivious to how unhealthy it is that Anthony is hitting on her after a traumatic experience.
  • In Garfield: His 9 Lives, during the Detective Sam Spayed story, Sam is torn between his Nice Girl secretary Kitty who makes great coffee and his new client, a widow named Tanya O'Tabby whom he suspects of killing her husband and using him as a Detective Patsy. Turns out that Kitty was in love with Tanya's husband, and quit her job as his secretary after realizing that he would never leave his wife. She didn't kill him, but her testimony leads Sam to the real murderer. Tanya also reveals that she is legitimately grieving her husband, thanking Sam for solving the case and paying him handsomely, but also lets him down gently about any romantic relationship since she is still in mourning.

Theatre

  • Chicago has a platonic version, with Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart fighting for attention of Billy Flynn, the Archie. Velma comes off as the vengeful sibling, while Roxie tells the press she is a reformed sinner. Only Billy is an Amoral Attorney pulling every trick in the book to get both women acquitted of murder charges. Velma and Roxie are dual Veronicas, and violent to boot.
  • Hamilton initially portrays Angelica and Eliza Schuyler as this, with Angelica as the outspoken older sister Veronica, Eliza as the Nice Girl Betty, and demure sweetheart, and Peggy as the the youngest. Indeed, when Angelica talks with Alexander Hamilton, Eliza fears they are flirting. Turns out Angelica considered it, but Eliza told her she liked Alexander, and Angelica sought to introduce them instead. Why? Because Eliza is her little sister, and deserves happiness. Angelica notes that if the roles were reversed, Eliza would do the same for her. Indeed, when Alexander cheats on Eliza and writes the Reynolds Pamphlet about it, Eliza shows off her Veronica side and calls out her husband in "Burn" while Angelica makes it clear that she's supporting her little sister.

Video Games

  • Parodied in Undertale when you go on the date with Alphys during the route to the Golden Ending. You by default are the Betty while Undyne is the Veronica and Alphys is the Archie. Thing is you can be a rude pacifist, or have committed a No Mercy run beforehand. She tries her best to make it work, but Alphys admits that she has feelings for Undyne, the one who actually wrote the letter that you delivered. You can then choose to roleplay as either Undyne or Alphys, making the real Alphys blush just in time for Undyne to walk in, giving Alphys the courage to confess her feelings.

Visual Novels

  • Doki Doki Literature Club! deconstructs this concept with the nameless player characters and the different girls he can romance. Sayori and Yuri seem to be Bettys while Natsuki and Monika are Veronicas, but in reality Sayori and Yuri are very depressed with the latter practicing self-harm, Natsuki does care about her friends, and Monika, well, she does admit that she wants a life beyond what is in the romance novel. The girls are a lot deeper than they look, and the best ending involves using your save slots to appeal to all their best interests.

Web Animation

  • Explored in Helluva Boss:
    • Stolas is the Archie torn between Blitzo and Stella initially, with having guilt about how his affair with Blitzo. One would assume that the Anything That Moves Blitzo is the Veronica, and Stella is the Betty. Except neither party is a Betty, and Stolas is no demure Archie; Stella has spend their whole marriage verbally abusing Stolas and mocking him to her friends, while Blitzo planned to rob Stolas after seducing him but realized that he couldn't do it. Not to mention that Ozzy points out to Stolas in "House of Asmodeus" that he only sees Blitzo as a thrust, something that hurts Blitzo deeply. The healthiest decision that Stolas makes in season two is deciding to divorce Stella, risking her wrath, and "Seeing Stars" shows him making a better effort as a partner to Blitzo.
    • There's also Blitzo's taste in romance as the Archie. He seems to be the Archie when in "House of Asmodeus," Verosika sings in from of Stolas, Blitzo's date, how she used to date Blitzo. She has been established as a Jerkass and Alpha Bitch, while Stolas has been a gentleman. The way that she narrates, however, Blitzo was the jerk in the relationship, being All Take and No Give and a "selfish, heart-breaking freak". To top it all off, he was terrible in bed. Stolas has a :O during this verse, as it dawns on him that he doesn't know Blitzo at all. Blitzo himself has no retort.
    • "Exes and Ohs" hints this when it turns out that Moxie's ex Chazz dated both him and Millie, and Moxie's father blackmails him into marrying Chazzz. With Chazz's lack of boundaries for either of him and Millie's Nice Girl nature, it should be obvious about who is the Betty and who is the Veronica. Thing is that Millie is a trained assassin and Blood Knight, while Chazz is a Paper Tiger and a Dirty Coward to boot. When Millie storms the wedding to rescue a Bound and Gagged Moxie, she curbstomps all the Mooks, shoves a dildo down Chazz's throat as he protests, and grabs her husband while slapping his butt.

Web Comics

  • Parodied in PvP during an convention arc. Francis accompanies Marcie to a convention to cover it for the magazine. An older cosplayer named Neko flirts with him. Marcie as the Betty naturally gets jealous, while Francis due to being a Hormone-Addled Teenager doesn't know how to respond. The thing is that Neko is just flirting. Marcie eventually loses her temper and summons gamer powers to attack her. Francis is horrified, but Neko retaliates by turning into a mecha. Security has to break them up and kicks all the teens out. Marcie apologizes to Francis afterward because she was the instigator and ruined their assignment.

Web Original

  • The Nostalgia Chick: In early videos, the Nostalgia Critic crushed on the Nostalgia Chick, who held a candle for Todd in the Shadows. It's a case where the introverted and broody Todd would be the Betty by default, given Doug plays the part of the Caustic Critic, and in a later video Lindsay hesitates to call him an "ally" to a vengeful Mara Wilson.

Western Animation

  • Ironically, the animated adaptation of Archie's Weird Mysteries had the Veronica switch her role as this and the Betty with Scarlett Van Helsing, a new student who was asking for Archie's help in researching vampires. They find out that Scarlett is a vampire, part of a cult who wants to resurrect their vampire leader Medlock. Scarlett seduces Archie before planning to kill him; Veronica leads a rescue and uses an amulet to stop Scarlett and her Mooks. Later, Scarlett ends up pulling a Heel Face Turn after Medlock drains her youth and forces her to seek refuge with the Archie gang.
  • In The Dragon Prince, Prince Callum at the start of the show is in love with his bodyguard's sister Claudia, a sweet girl that is a Cool Big Sis towards him and his little brother Ezran. He meets Elf Assassin Rayla when the latter hunts him down in a bid to kill Ezran, and he spends most of season one not trusting her, for obvious reasons. Season two has Callum and Ezran learn that Rayla was right that Claudia and her brother Soren found them in the mountains not to help them, but to take them and baby dragon Zym hostage to serve their father Viren, who wishes to usurp the throne. As they fly away, Callum has a heartbroken, betrayed expression on his face. Rayla spends the rest of season two and three dedicated to protecting the brothers, as well as Zym.
  • The Legend of Korra used Character Development to incorporate this trope with Korra, her crush Mako and his girlfriend Asami. It's a rare case when the protagonist is the Veronica, owing to her being the Avatar and having No Social Skills while Asami is the Betty: a Spoiled Sweet Nice Girl that sacrifices her cushy life to protect her friends from her turncoat father. Yet when Asami finds out that Korra kissed Mako, she doesn't blame the former and rightly susses that Korra doesn't understand romantic boundaries, while calling out Mako for not telling her. After more back and forth in season two, the girls finally talk it out in the season three premiere after they both break up with Mako. They then end up dating in the series finale. Go figure.
  • Miraculous Ladybug: Chloe is definitely the Veronica to Marinette's Betty when it comes to Adrien Agreste. Marinette is a Nice Girl, but she occasionally engages in moments of pettiness that causes the Monster of the Week, case in point with Lilah. Meanwhile, Chloe from time to time showed Hidden Depths or hints of a Heel Face Turn before she decided to stay on the Face side.
  • Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
    • This happened when Velma and Scooby tried to make Shaggy choose between them, as a girlfriend or a bestie respectively. Yes, Shaggy was choosing between a girl and a dog, and even some villains lampshade that is whack. Both switched the Veronica role, with Velma being petty while Scooby tried to make a dummy his new best friend.
    • Season two has Daphne pursued by Freddy, who left her to find his biological parents, and Baylor, a famous actress looking to produce a film. Freddy would normally be the Veronica, since as Daphne points out angrily, he broke their engagement in favor of another mystery, while Baylor has always been there for her. Turns out Baylor was the Monster of the Week kidnapping people for his new film, including Daphne, and Freddy pulls a heroic rescue by landing the plane that Baylor hijacked.
  • What's New, Scooby-Doo?
    • Veronica faces Veronica in the Halloween special with KISS. Velma's cousin Marcie, local Corn Queen and Alpha Bitch, starts flirting with Freddy in Daphne's presence, while Freddy remains Oblivious to Love. Daphne becomes jealous and questions if Marcie could be the one sabotaging the Halloween festivities; Marcie gets defensive and proves with security cameras that she was working retail at the time of one of the attacks. While Daphne had no proof, she was right; Marcie was the saboteur, using remote electronics to cover her tracks. The camera provided different evidence, that the gloves Marcie was stocking matched the ones found at the site.
    • There's a tiny Played for Laughs version between Daphne and Velma when a vampire harasses the Hex Girls at one of their video shoots. Freddy sets up a trap before solving the mystery, and says they need bait. Shaggy and Scooby refuse, but Freddy explains he needs one of the girls to dress up as a Hex Girl. Daphne primps expectantly. Cut to Bookworm Velma in the costume, with The Fashionista Daphne asking why she gets to wear the dress. Surprisingly, Velma outruns the vampire after luring him out in the open, allowing the gang to trap him.
  • It happened in the "World's Finest" crossover between Superman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, with Batman and Superman discussing it. Lois is tongue-tied around Superman when trying to ask if she could be more than the token damsel he saves, and is flattered when Bruce Wayne asks her out on a date. In contrast, she sees "Smallville" Clark Kent as a work rival, and Batman as an unnecessary violent force. To Lois's eyes, Superman is The Veronica while Bruce Wayne is the Betty. Batman and Superman even discuss that she wants the nice hero, and the philanthropic billionaire, but not their other sides.


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